Review: Dying to be Thin by Kathryn Lilley

It is New Years Eve and many people set resolutions for the new year ahead of them.  In that vein I wanted to read a book whose theme is a resolution a vast majority of us have at one time or another made (I know I have) - loosing weight.  The diet industry is worth billions of dollars in the US, so weight issues are a theme that speak to many of us.  According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), obesity in adults has increased by 60% within the past twenty years and obesity in children has tripled in the past thirty years. A staggering 33% of American adults are obese.  Yes, weight issues are a topic most of us can relate with.  Enjoy this review of a relatively new mystery series that weaves the battle of the bulge in with murder and sleuthing in a humorus way.

Author: Kathryn Lilley

Copyright: 2007 (Obsidian); 283 pgs.

Series: #1 in Fat City mysteries

Sensuality: Adult themes and references

Mystery sub-genre: Amateur Sleuth

Main Character: Award Winning, Plus-sized TV News Producer Kate Gallagher

Setting: Weight-loss Clinic in Durham North Carolina

Part of a Challenge: Fall/Winter Mystery Reading Challenge

Obtained book through: Library Find

Move over “The Biggest Loser”, the Fat City Mysteries are here!

In Boston Massachusetts Kate Gallagher is laid off from work and dumped by her boyfriend (for a size 2 girl) all in a week’s span. She decides to turn this negative into a positive by setting her sights on being in front of the camera from now on. Kate has been told she has the “face” to do it with her high cheekbones, blue eyes and auburn hair but not the body, so she has to drop some weight – but she needs help doing it. So Kate arranges to stay at the Hoffman Weight Loss Clinic in Durham NC (aka the Diet Capital of the World – for real – since the Rice Diet in the 1930s started there.) Kate manages a deal with a local TV news station to produce and star in a feature about her own weight loss story to supplement her income since the clinic costs a good bit.

The founder and director of the weight loss clinic, Dr. Hoffman, seems particularly caustic to his clients and Kate finds his body her first morning. He is on the front porch with skewers in his eyes. Kate finds herself on the inside investigating the murder and producing two simultaneous stories for the local news. Things start getting complicated when Kate finds her pulse accelerated by both the attractive British accented Police Detective and a wealthy Lawyer representing the clinic’s new director. Kate quickly finds out she is in a vulnerable position, as the murderer doesn’t like her investigative reporting, especially when she uncovers the Director had a S&M private life including clients and employees. That makes the dieters at the clinic and the employees all suspects.

But first I had to make it out of the newsroom. It would be a tricky maneuver. The exit path would take me past the snack machines again, where danger lurked.

To get prepared, I took a deep breath and lashed myself mentally to the mast, like Odysseus. Then I set sail around Vending Machine Island. And once again, I managed to survive the siren call of the Ho Hos.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reed fastened his eyes on me. “A sane person would find someplace else to sleep tonight.”

“True, but we broadcast types aren’t all that sane; didn’t you get the memo?” I joked, trying not to sound the way I was feeling, which was scared stiff. “Remember we’re the ones who stand outside during hurricanes, shouting into a microphone.” I mimed a reporter battling a headwind. “Well Anderson, the wind is really starting to blow now!”

A grin cracked through Reed’s on-the-job face. “You’re right, you people are insane,” he said.

Kate is a great heroine, down to earth and gutsy with a sense of humor. The beginning of each chapter has short diet insights, supposedly pinned by a friend of Kate’s who used to be big and passed along her tips. The plot isn’t overly complicated but meaty enough to sink your teeth into (I couldn’t resist!) The writing is equally on par for an amateur sleuth with just enough humor paired with investigative zeal and a pinch of gritty crime. Subplots are woven in such as Kate’s interfering and overprotective father, her best friend who is a cop back in Boston, and Kate’s personal struggle with dieting. The ending was satisfying and wrapped up nicely (while no big twist ending) while leaving Kate the dilemma of two guys interested in her.

The author’s strong point is how she brings Kate to life. Kate is a gal who could be every woman and yet she seems a distinct individual in the novel. A solid story with a refreshing and realistic heroine meshed with a good story line told in an entertaining first person narrative and you have a new series to watch. This series has the potential to heat up and become a sensation. I am looking forward to reading all of the series (thus far only three but promising more.)



For your convenience, you may purchase a copy here.

I wish you health and happiness in the new year - and many mysterious moments.

Author Interview: Mary Stanton

I am very pleased to welcome Mary Stanton to our little piece of the blogosphere.  Mary graciously agreed to this interview and I am so thankful.  I think you will find her answers conversational and very interesting.  Mary started her writing career in 1984 and sold her first mystery in 1994.  She publishes the Hemlock Falls mysteries under the name Claudia Bishop.  Mary is well known for her middle-grade books as well.  You may read my review of her book Angel's Advocate here.  Welcome Mary Stanton (cue loud aplause and cheering.)

I love Brianna Winston-Beaufort in the Beaufort & Company, what is your process for developing a character? Do you use pictures, a worksheet or just let the character tell you about him/herself as you write?

I'm so glad you like Bree! I'm not sure I can tell you how she came about, because it's a very fuzzy process for me. I do know this, though. All my characters begin with a name and a single quality of character. Bree emerged as Brianna Winston-Beaufort 20 years ago. I wrote a short scene; she was arriving in Savannah to take her first job as a newly licensed attorney. Then I stuck the scene in my 'Think about it' file. Eighteen years later, I pulled the scene out and decided that her defining characteristic was as an avenging advocate. And I thought that a woman like that would look like a rapier; slim, silvery-haired, and very fit. So she had a job, a physical presence, and a mission.

The second step in my process for character development is deciding on speech patterns. This includes locutions (what words does she use?), rhythm (short or long sentences?) and vocabulary (including cuss words).

Then I add family, friends, and all the other parts of a character's life.

It's an evolving process, that's for sure, and that can be a problem for a series character. There's only so much you can decide on up front, and then the character takes over.

Do you outline the plot or some variation of that (use a strict 3 act structure or not and little/a lot of detail) before sitting down and writing?

When I start a new series, I have to outline like crazy for the first two books at least, and then sometimes beyond that. I usually write down a list of the new characters, beginning with their names. Then I write a paragraph describing the crime. Then I list all the clues to solving the case. After that, I list fifteen chapters, with a sentence describing what action will occur in each. Once in a while, I'll do a timeline, but that's not my favorite job.

After the series settles into my head, I don't have to do that. I'm on my 19th Hemlock Falls novel (which I write as Claudia Bishop) and I don't have to outline at all. I just have to write down the answer to three questions: Who's dead? Who did it? and What kind of group is going to be a guest at the Inn?

How do you find time for writing - what works for you?

Argh. I am not a disciplined person. Well, I am actually, once I get started, but I hate getting started. So I'll do ANYTHING rather than write that first chapter. Play with my pet goats, if I'm at the farm. Go to the beach if I'm in Florida for the winter. Clean the basement, alphabetize my spices....whatever.

When I do start, I work all day. I'm up early, before five, and I work until I've hit at least three thousand words.

For your mystery series there is some detailed information - how much research goes into your work and do you complete that up front or "just enough" as you go?

My alter ego (Claudia Bishop) doesn't have to research anything except recipes, so that's a breeze. Mary Stanton, on the other hand, has to work like a dog. I have a pretty good library at home, and, of course, there's the Internet, god bless it! My biggest problem is getting sidetracked. The history of angels is really interesting. The world's great religions are fascinating. I can spend hours reading up on things which turn out to be non-essential to the book at hand. And since I don't stop work until I've hit three thousand words, it can make for very long days.

Setting seems as important as the characters in your mysteries, any tips on conveying a sense of place well?

Mary Stanton frets herself to death over setting. (Claudia Bishop doesn't; she lives in the middle of Hemlock Falls, so all she has to do is go for a walk). I've been to Savannah four time in the past three years. I have maps, guide books, photos, botanical books, and I still feel as if I'm missing the essence of that lovely city.

I read once that a romance writer would put on sexy lingerie to prepare for writing - do you have anything special you do before writing, particular music or a special room/location that helps you get in the zone and write?

I get dressed in very nice casual clothes, put on makeup, a little perfume, and make sure my hair looks nice, and sit on the couch with my laptop. I need to feel as if I'm 'going to work.'

Do you have any secrets to success for editing?

Get somebody else to do it. Seriously. I depend on my little sister. I am a very very poor editor of my own work. I hate to delete, and I hate to redo. Now, if I let my work sit for long enough--say six months--I can go back and fix stuff on my own. But I write from two to three books a year, and I've never given myself that luxury. So my little sister gets my first drafts, and then I nag her endlessly to read it right now!!!! And she's tough!

Can you recommend a fiction book that provides a great example of the writing craft to dissect and learn from?

Hmmm. In mysteries, I guess, for pacing, I'd recommend Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels. For scholarship, tone, and character development, Reginald Hill. For setting, P.D. James. For structure, any of the good, classic Golden Age mysteries; Cyril Hare is just brilliant.

How did you get your first break towards getting published? Was it sending in a query or meeting an agent at a writing conference etc?

I went to a science fiction convention with a friend of mine and met an editor with a small press who liked what I told him about my first novel. (It was titled THE HEAVNLY HORSE FROM THE OUTERMOST WEST, and featured horses as the main characters.) He bought it. I got an agent (much easier to do after you made the sale). Then the press went bankrupt and my agent placed the book with another publisher.

You have a new book due out Feb 2010 - tell us about your upcoming book! What aspect of the new book did you particularly enjoy?

The new novel is called AVENGING ANGELS and I loved loved LOVED writing toward the penultimate scene. I wanted the reader to shriek with surprise. let me know if you do!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
Mary, thank you for such a great interview!  I found it facinating that your main character started eighteen years prior with an idea you jotted down and stuck away.  Your character development process is interesting to me with your detail to speech patterns.
 
I will be reviewing Avenging Angels here shortly dear readers, so hang in there.  Mary and I are discussing this blog as part of a book blog tour for her February release also.  I hope you have enjoyed this interview.

Review: The Oxygen Murder by Camille Minichino

Well it is December 24th and I am posting a review of a mystery book that occurs during the holidays...in New York City.  Think of the city decked out from skyscraper to brown stone with lights and bows.  Ice skating at Rockefellar Center, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), horse drawn carriage rides around Central Park and all the bustle, sights and smells of New York.  This book brought all these sights, sounds, smells and visions vividly to life and I share them here with you.  Happy Holidays my friends! 

Author: Camille Minichino

Copyright: 2006 (Minotaur Books); 256 pgs.

Series: #8 in Periodic Tables mysteries

Sensuality: N/A

Mystery sub-genre: Amateur Sleuth

Main Character: Gloria Lamerino, retired physicist: a middle-aged plus size Italian brainiac scientist

Setting: Christmas vacation in New York City

Part of a Challenge: Fall/Winter Mystery Reading Challenge

Obtained book through: Library

Gloria is newly married to equally Italian Matt Gennaro, Revere Massachusetts’ homicide detective. Matt has a law enforcement conference in the Big Apple so Gloria and best friends Rose and Frank make a holiday vacation out of it. While in town they have dinner with Matt’s niece, Lori, a documentary filmmaker. The next morning Gloria is tasked with returning Lori’s prescription sunglasses and finds a dead body in Lori’s apartment. The dead girl was Amber, Lori’s camerawoman on the current Corporate Environmental violators’ documentary who also worked for a Private Investigator photographing naughty deeds. It doesn’t take long before Amber’s penchant for blackmailing people reveals multitudes of suspects.

Back home in Revere, Gloria is often a “consultant” with the local police but the NYPD probably won’t be so hospitable to her sleuthing. So Gloria has to get her information via Matt using buddies in the NYPD and filtering her findings back through Matt. Lori is most likely in danger and the tension is maintained believably.  The viewpoint is mainly through Gloria's eyes but we get several sections told through Lori's eyes with her fears and guilt bubbling over.

I absolutely loved Gloria, a middle aged intelligent independent woman who is more comfortable with science magazines than fashion rags and wears a bit larger than size 6 with all the incredible Italian food she eats. The plot is nicely developed and played out, New York during the holidays is wonderfully brought to life (I must do NY at the holidays sooner than later!!! Next Year?) The characters are painstakingly and lovingly breathed to life.

I longed for a sign of life, some sound other than the creaking machinery of the old cage. Where were the alleged eight million citizens of the nation’s largest city? Not to mention the hundred thousand or so tourists supposedly passing through JFK every day….The old elevator took forever, fitting and starting its way up, past two other red metal doors, each with its own blend of scuff marks. I saw graffiti-lettered FAGETTABOUDIT twice and wondered what daredevil wrote it, swinging around, hovering over an open shaft. Here and there bleached-out streaks hinted at unmentionable stains. At the fourth floor, the cage jerked to a stop landing me across a narrow hallway from the threshold to Lori’s apartment, the large metal door of which stood open.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matt and I walked arm in arm up Sixth Avenue toward Fiftieth, where we were to meet Rose for ice-skating (her) and spectating (us). We’d already seen the Rockefeller Center tree, illumined by Rose’s detailed knowledge of it. She knew exactly how many lights (thirty thousand) adorned the spruce, and how big the tree was (seventy-one feet tall, weighing nine tons.) And just as she was the historian of Revere, she’d recounted for us the tree’s lineage, grown this year by a family in Suffern, New York. How she did all this research without the Internet, I couldn’t fathom.

The clues are there and though I suspected who was the murderer I had missed the clue. Well done! The ending was well thought out and satisfying. In short, I have to collect all of the books in the Periodic Mystery series. Sadly there were only eight in the series and Ms. Minichino is now busy writing the miniature mysteries.  Don't you hate finding something you just love to find out it is no longer being made?

For your convenience, you may purchase a copy here.

Until next Monday (and another author interview), I wish you many mysterious moments!  Stay warm, safe and healthy out there my friends - and please don't drink and drive during this holiday season.

Author Interview: Margaret Maron

I am overjoyed and deeply honored to have this interview with Margaet Maron.  Ms. Maron is a bestselling author and winner of the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity awards.  She is a founding member and past president of Sisters in Crime and of the American Crime Writers' League, and a director on the national board for Mystery Writers of America.  Her works have been translated into a dozen languages and are on the reading lists of many college course in contemporary Southern literature.  You can read my review of her book, Sand Sharks here. Please give a warm welcome to Margaret Maron.

Do you start your next mystery with the killer, the victim or a plot idea?

I usually start by choosing the North Carolina setting where Judge Deborah Knott will be holding court, i.e., the landscape around her, whether she's in her home county, at the coast, or out in the mountains. I look at issues pertinent to her surroundings and then let the plot grow organically out of that setting and those issues..

Do you outline the plot or some variation of that (a little/a lot of detail - use a strict 3 act structure or not) before sitting down and writing?
I have never been able to outline. I wish I could, but the few times I've tried it, I overthink and wind up getting so bored that the story dies. I compare my style of writing to someone who lets loose a boxful of rabbits. Every rabbit is a character or plot point. I set them free and watch them scamper around for about 55,000 words, then I spend another 15,000 words getting them back into the box. I usually have no idea where they're going and am often delighted to see what briar patches they've wandered into, from which I must extricate them.

I love Judge Deborah Knott, what is your process for developing a character? Do you use pictures, a worksheet or just let the character tell you about him/herself as you write?
My characters seem to stroll into a scene or onto a page as they are needed. They are created out of necessity and whimsey. While they often arrive merely to further the plot, I usually get so interested in them or their backstories that I probably flesh them out more than is strictly necessary. After 16 books, I now have several hundred that I can tap to play a role and all of them are quite vivid in my mind. Deborah herself was created to be the direct antithesis of Lt. Sigrid Harald, NYPD, the protagonist of 8 earlier novels set against the New York art scene. I wanted to differentiate the two completely. Because Sigrid was a loner, I made Deborah gregarious. Because Sigrid was awkward in relationships, I made Deborah comfortable in her skin. Sigrid is an only child and has very few relatives, so Deborah has 11 older brothers and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Because Sigrid was this, Deborah was that, etc. Readers often tell me that the two voices are so different they would never have guessed that both series were written by the same person.

How do you find time for writing - what works for you?
I discovered long ago that one makes time for what one wants to do and for what is important to that person. When it's time to write, I quit doing all the other stuff and just write. Because I'm not a morning person, I find that I accomplish my best writing between five p.m. and 1 a.m.

I read once that a romance writer would put on sexy lingerie to prepare for writing -
do you have anything special you do before writing, particular music or a special room/location that helps you get in the zone and write?
I'm not going to accuse that romance writer of saying something provocative just to interest her interviewer, but most of the writers I know go to their keyboards in pajamas, sweat pants, or a comfortable pair of jeans. Sexy lingerie? Oh, please! The writing doesn't happen for me until I'm sitting at a keyboard facing an empty screen that demands that I fill it with words. I don't have to work in a cork-lined room with absolute quiet, but I do concentrate better if I'm alone in a room with the door closed between me and whatever interesting that's happening beyond that door. I cannot write and listen to music though. The music gets between me and the screen.

I particularly enjoy how you create a sense of place. Setting seems as important as the characters in your mysteries, any tips on conveying a sense of place well?
Be specific. Don't say there are trees. "Trees" is generic. Are they pines? Palms? Mighty oaks or graceful dogwoods? Are the "roadside flowers" red poppies, blue asters, or goldenrod? Get away from the sense of sight and let your characters smell, taste, touch, and hear their surroundings.

What is on your bedside table to read?
Nothing. I fall asleep too quickly to read in bed. But on my breakfast table might be a history of everyday life in Rome, a classic mystery, a manuscript an editor has asked me to give a cover quote to, and of course a newspaper and some periodicals: The New Yorker, The Saturday Review of Literature, Newsweek, etc.

Can you recommend a fiction book that provides a great example of the writing craft to dissect and learn from?
Either The Franchise Affair or Brat Farrar, both by Josephine Tey. She puts you immediately into the scene and even her animals have personalities.

How did you get your first break towards getting published? Was it sending in a query or meeting an agent at a writing conference etc?
Dogged persistence. I began with short stories sent in "over the transom" and put up with a year of rejection until the then-editor of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine bought one. Then two, and I was off to the races. After several years of short stories, I tried my hand at a novel and sent it to an agent that one of the magazine editors had recommended. He wasn't able to do much for me, but that book led to a second agent and finally, by a very circuitous path, to the agent I have now

Do you participate in a critique group (or have you in the past?) What are the pros and cons of critique groups?
No, I never have. When I began writing, I knew of no other writers, so I learned my craft on my own and never saw the point of them, therefore I can't give advice on their usefulness. I know that many writers swear by them, but I've heard that some groups are downright toxic. I've also heard that it's too easy to try to write to the group rather than to one's own sense of rightness, but I know none of this from personal experience.

THANK YOU Ms. Maron for this wonderful interview.  It has been a delight interviewing you and I look forward to your next books.
 
Until Thursday's next book review, I  wish you many mysterious moments and happy holidays.

Review: Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn

Author: Carola Dunn


Copyright: 1994 (Kensington); 256 pgs.

Series: #1 in Daisy Dalrymple mysteries

Sensuality: N/A

Mystery sub-genre: historical / cozy

Main Character: Honorable Daisy Dalrymple, daughter of a Viscount

Setting: Winter – 1922, English country estate, country recovering from WWI

Part of a Challenge: Fall Winter Mystery Reading Challenge

Obtained book through: Library Find

Daisy is a new breed of royal, blazing her own trails as she takes a job writing feature articles for Town and County. Her lineage gains her entry to places other writers couldn’t even dream of. Case in point, Earl Wentwater opens his estate for Daisy to do an article on the estate and a few juicy stories – by their standards. Daisy is sharp and observant and she realizes there are many emotional undercurrents working at the estate. When an unwelcome guest, Lord Astwick – the brother of a Marquis, is found dead bobbing in a hole in the frozen lake on the estate property Daisy photographs the removal of the body. After Daisy develops the photos and shows them to the handsome Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Fletcher it is clear there are axe marks that created the hole and the notion of an ice skating accident are ruled out.

Daisy gets involved in the investigation when she acts as scribe for Inspector Fletcher while he questions the house full of family and a few guests, effectively making her a liaison between the working class Inspector and the privileged class. She starts to notice how her heart quickens when the inspector enters the room. Who killed the reprehensible Lord Astwich is important but inspector Fletcher also finds himself wondering whether the Honorable Miss Dalrymple could ever see him as an equal and thus perhaps go on a date.

Alex came to a decision. “I’m going to ask a further favor of you. Do you by any chance take shorthand?”

“Yes, sort of. That is, I learned it and I worked for a while as a stenographer, but being in an office all day was simply frightful.”

“You’ve forgotten it?” He asked, disappointed.

“Not exactly. I use it when I’m making notes for my writing, but it’s not quite Pitman’s any longer. I don’t think anyone else could read it. I can, as long as I transcribed it before I forget what it says.”

He laughed. “I’ll risk it. It’ll be better than nothing. I want to interview people while they think I believe the drowning was accidental, but my officers won’t be here to take notes for some time.”

“You want me to do it?” She sounded astonished and not a little excited, her eyes sparkling.

A charming mystery novel. Daisy Dalrymple is a great heroine, level headed, observant and a good judge of character. She wants to help the family out because she has grown fond of the Earl and his new wife in a short time. The murder is not chilling but the killer must be ferreted out even if it is a member of the Earl’s family or the Earl himself, which provides some political land mines for Inspector Fletcher. The plot is not particularly elaborate but the story is nicely told. A light read debuting a series that brings the 1920s culture and uniqueness vibrantly to life. The murder solution is believable and the resolution is different.

For your convenience, you may purchase your copy here.

Until Monday I wish you many mysterious moments.